Big Brother, Little Brother
by Spiritstrike
Summary: ESverse: While suffering from a system upset one morning that not even Ratchet can take away, Tailgate calls for his big brother to come and help.


Ok, so while we're waiting for the latest chapter of Inherit to be finished getting checked over by my beta reader, I thought I'd share you this cute idea of a brotherly moment between Rodimus and Tailgate from my **Earthspark **series, which I had on my mind since this morning. The idea was so cute that I couldn't resist writing it down! Me hope you like it!

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"Mother, make it stop!" Tailgate wailed inaudibly. The little mech was in tears as he rolled, tossed and turned as the fiery sensation pulsed through his aching body. His entire chassis throbbed with pain as he struggled to hold himself together. Everything felt like it was being torn from the inside out, as though the pain threatened to tear him from the inside out.

"I know, my sweetspark," his mother sighed as she sent him her love and understanding through the sparklink. She stroked him on the helm as gently as she could. "I'm doing everything in my power to make things easier until Ratchet comes."

"Mother please!" Tailgate cried, his tears falling faster.

Tailgate had been fine this morning when his father had prepared to head out for patrol with his teammates Red Alert, Hot Spot, Streetwise, Groove, Blades and First Aid. He had kissed him goodbye like the good little mech that he was and had watched as they had faded down the road and out of sight. According to his father, he would not be back until tomorrow evening. It would be strange not seeing his father recharging beside his mother, but it was for the best. Even his mother understood the reason for this.

After his father was gone, his mother had taken him to visit his aunty Beta and had been enjoying a good talk and a drink of energon when Tailgate had started complaining of being uncomfortable in his abdomen. Seconds later, it had turned into an overwhelming sense of agony and his mother apologised to aunty Beta and had to take him back to their quarters to find out what was wrong.

The culprit responsible for Tailgate's suffering turned out to be a nasty case of the system upset.

Now Tailgate was lying on the couch, wrapped in a warm thermal blanket. He was struggling not to cry, but he was failing miserably. His mother struggled to do everything in her medical training abilities to ease his pain, but couldn't make it any better no matter how hard she tried.

There was buzz at the door.

Through his tears, Tailgate watched as his mother walked over to the door and Ratchet came walking in. "What seems to be the problem, Firestar?" he asked the concerned mother. He glanced down at the pained youngling. "Ah, systems upset. Not a very nice thing for sparklings and younglings."

"Can you make it stop please, Ratchet?" Tailgate whimpered as the pain died down.

Ratchet kneeled down beside him, placing a kind servo on his head. "I'll do my best," he smiled. "But I cannot promise anything."

Tailgate nodded as Ratchet dug into his subspace pocket and pulled out a small needle. The youngling's optics widened in horror and he skittered backwards. He was not very fond of needles, having a huge phobia with them. "No, I don't want a needle!" he cried.

His mother's unease trickled through their bond. "Ratchet, you know how Tailgate has a fear of needles," she said worriedly. "Is it really necessary? Can't we just give him something that doesn't involve those instruments?"

Ratchet looked over at the red femme with understanding. "I know, but since we cannot get painkillers into his system without this, I'm afraid we have to use it." His gaze returned to Tailgate, who was shifting about nervously. "Firestar, it would be wise if you held him still."

Tailgate felt his mother's concern grow as she came over, her hands gently taking his arms and legs. _'Please don't move, my son,'_ she told him over the bond, her love filling him within. _'It will only hurt for a moment.'_

Tailgate trembled and pounded a fist on his chassis. _'I'm scared, mother.'_

She stroked his helm again, nuzzling him with her nose as she once again filled him with her love, only stronger than ever. _'I know, but if you keep your optics on me, then you won't notice a thing.'_

The youngling took a deep breath and nodded, indicating that he was ready. But as Ratchet came forward with the needle to inject him with the painkillers from the corner of his optic, he shrieked and struggled strongly in his mother's hold. One of his pedes accidentally connected with Ratchet's groin and he went down, the needle clattering onto the floor, much to his mother's horror. She tried to come to his aid as poor Tailgate continued to cry in agony.

"I sorry, Mother, I can't do it!" he screamed. "I can't do it!"

Without warning, he turned his head and vomited all over his mother's beautiful crimson armour.

"I'm sorry, Mother," he whimpered as he curled up into a ball, half-expecting to be yelled at for puking all over the very armour his father loved so much. He sent a huge wave of apologies to his mother, begging for her forgiveness for ruining her armour.

Instead of showing anger or fury, her optics were soft with sympathy for her sparkling's pain. "Oh my little sweetspark," she whispered as she knelt beside him, her pointer digit stroking his antenna in an attempt to soothe his discomfort. "I know you didn't mean it."

She glared down at Ratchet.

"Pick yourself up off my floor, you idiot," she snapped. "You're not hurt!"

Ratchet groaned as he slowly eased himself up. "No, but my mechhood is," he grumbled, rubbing his crotch in discomfort.

"I'll damage it even further if you don't find a way to make my sparkling better!" she growled, slapping him upside the head.

"Alright, alright!" Ratchet hissed. "No need to get your circuits in a knot."

Tailgate giggled, but not before his insides made him groan. "I want father," he sniffed.

Both elders looked at him with concern as his mother sighed uneasily, "You know that your father won't be back until tomorrow evening, my son. I'm afraid you're stuck with me until he comes back." She vanished out of sight for a moment before she returned with a towel that she used to clean her armour from the excess vomit and then she attempted to clean Tailgate's face.

Without warning, Tailgate burst into tears as Ratchet and his mother jumped back in time to avoid being vomited on.

"I want Roddy," he suddenly admitted.

Knowing that the two shared a special bond, Ratchet and his mother glanced at each other, discussing about it privately. The femme nodded and Ratchet glanced over at the poor youngling. "Rodimus is in a meeting with Prowl at the moment, but he'll be here shortly," he promised.

His mother came over, sitting down beside her distressed youngling. She plucked him off the couch and brought him into her troubled arms, rocking him back and forth in an attempt to make him feel better until Rodimus arrived. She continued to send waves of her love, sympathy, and understanding to Tailgate, while uncertainty on how Rodimus would be able to fix Tailgate's pain trickled over it as well. But from the way how her son told her about him, she could see how much he respected the new Prime. From the day they had first met each other in the brig, something special had formed between them: brotherhood.

Ratchet watched quietly as mother and son embraced, listening as the Firestar quietly sung to him in their language. Tailgate's crying ceased, but not his pain. He kept on pounding on his abdomen where his discomforting intakes kept on growling in protest at the slightest movement.

He threw up one more time, but this time Ratchet was quick enough to get him a bowl for him to vomit in.

It was after this that the door buzzed.

Ratchet answered it just as Rodimus came rushing in, almost knocking him over. Worry for his little friend was clearly written all over his facial features. "Is Tailgate alright, Firestar?" he asked quickly. "What happened?"

WHACK!

Rodimus winced as his world spun from when Ratchet slapped him across the head. "What was that for?" he demanded angrily, glaring at the grumpy mech.

"Will you relax youngling?" Ratchet snorted. "Tailgate has just got a system upset."

When he heard the voice of his friend and brother, Tailgate opened his optics and saw him standing there, rubbing his head painfully. "Roddy!" he cried, his arms reaching out for him.

"Tailgate," Rodimus smiled as he came forward, his arms reaching out to his little friend. But then he stopped and looked at Firestar with a questioning optic. "May I take him?" he asked.

She didn't hesitate to transfer the youngling into his arms. Rodimus was ever so gentle as he sat down on the couch opposite of Firestar, cradling Tailgate with so much care that it looked like he had turned from a warrior to a big brother. He gently rocked back and forth in an attempt to soothe him. The youngling was still sniffling as his insides made the familiar groaning noise. He then heaved all over the mech's flamed chassis, much to the horror of his mother.

"Primus, Rodimus, I'm so sorry!" Firestar gasped.

But Rodimus didn't seem bothered by the liquid on his chest. "It's alright, Firestar," he chuckled. "It's just a little vomit. I'll clean it up later when I have time."

Tailgate looked up tearfully at his friend as Ratchet shook his head and took out a clean towel from a storage unit. He tossed it at the young Prime, who laughed and started cleaning himself up. "Just a little vomit," he parroted, snorting in amusement. "One of these days, Rodimus, that youngling is going to be the death of you."

As though Rodimus sensed Tailgate's worries, he bent down and whispered something into his audio receptor. Tailgate gave a puzzled expression, but he nodded and snuggled in deeply into his arms. But then he held out an arm towards Ratchet in a gesture for something.

Ratchet's optics widened. "What did you...?"

Rodimus just winked at him. "I think he'll let you inject him with painkillers now," he smirked.

Disbelieving, Ratchet picked up needle and quietly approached Rodimus and Tailgate. He gently took hold of Tailgate's arm, which slightly flinched at his touch, but he didn't pull it away. As Ratchet prepared to insert it, Rodimus continued to whisper something to the youngling, who kept his optics firmly on him the whole time.

"It's all done," Ratchet announced.

"There, see?" Rodimus chuckled. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Tailgate?"

Tailgate shook his head and yawned as the painkillers immediately kicked in. He burrowed his head into Rodimus' chest and drifted off into recharge. The young Prime glanced up at Ratchet, quirking an optic ridge at him. "You put something to help him recharge, didn't you?" he questioned.

"Just to make sure that it helps him recover," Ratchet answered simply. "System upsets tend to take a while to heal from. But when he wakes up, he should be good as new."

"Thank you so much for your help, Rodimus," Firestar smiled. "I didn't think we'd ever get him to settle down."

"Hey, no problem," Rodimus laughed quietly so as to not wake up his recharging friend. "If you need help with Tailgate again, don't be afraid to ask."

"Actually," said Firestar, glancing down at her son with love, "there is something you can do for me."

Ratchet and Rodimus looked at her with puzzlement. "What do you mean?" Rodimus questioned.

"Since you seem to be so good with him and that he respects you so much, I thought you could take care of him for a little while at least."

Rodimus looked at Firestar and then back down at Tailgate. Now that he thought about it, it didn't seem like a bad idea at all. He could use with something better to do rather than listen to Prowl's boring lecture meetings. He returned his gaze to Firestar and nodded. "I'd be happy to do it," he replied. "Just let me know when you want him back, ok?"

The crimson femme nodded thankfully. She then watched as Rodimus carefully picked himself up, still cradling the recharging Tailgate and heading out the room, while Ratchet's optics shifted to her, a bemused expression forming on his facial features.

"You had this planned from the beginning didn't you?" he smirked.

Firestar just simply winked, remaining silent.

**Eight Hours Later**

Firestar had spent the last several hours helping Ratchet out in the med-bay, doing what she could to take her uneasy processor off Rodimus and Tailgate. The last time she com-linked Rodimus to check to see how things were going was merely four hours ago when he requested that she not worry for once in her long life. Ratchet could see her worry, understanding what it was like to be separated from a loved one for a long time.

Finally, her concern grew so strong that she attempted to com-link Rodimus once again. Much to her surprise, she got no response. Unable to contain her worry for her sparkling and Rodimus, she rushed down the corridors as fast as she possibly with Ratchet hot on her heels.

They reached Rodimus' quarters and discovered that the door was locked. Ratchet came forward and typed in an emergency command code that granted them entrance. They entered and glanced to one side, only to stop in shock.

There, lying on the couch in deep recharge was Rodimus Prime with a still recharging Tailgate on his chest.


End file.
